SARATOGA SPRINGS >> April 15 is fast approaching, and tax preparers and filing procrastinators alike are hurrying to meet the deadline, hoping to get some money back.

The co-owners of Liberty Tax at 145 Ballston Ave., a family-run franchise with four locations and 23 tax preparers, are in their fifth tax season. Co-owner Tim Hall said this year has been great for them, with their first peak in February and a quieter March. Now the last-minute filers are dashing in. Liberty Tax will be open till midnight on Tuesday.

“Our goal is to get as many tax credits as we can for people,” he said. “The Earned Income Credit and the Education Investment Tax Credit are important ones.”

Hall said the Afforable Care Act is a huge new piece of legislation. If citizens lack health insurance next year, they’ll be assessed a penalty.

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Liberty Tax was started by John Hewitt, founder of Jackson Hewitt Tax Service. The training courses and testing are stricter than in the International Revenue Service, said Hall, who has a business background.

“We like being self-employed, and we like the Liberty culture,” Hall said. “Working with the process is a great experience. We love meeting people and helping them through their taxes.”

As Hall spoke, several people came in to file. While the adults sat at the preparers’ desks, sorting out papers, kids burrowed into beanbag chairs in the children’s area, where they could wear the company’s iconic Statue of Liberty foam crowns, stack blocks or watch TV.

“The Internet helps filers become savvy,” Hall said. “So they come in to us, and a week later, they are getting their refund checks.”

Allison Bonner, Hall’s daughter and a co-owner, works in marketing for the company. She has a backround in customer service.

“I love talking to and interacting with people,” she said. “This is the only type of desk job I could have.”

Trevor Oakley, the young-adult librarian at Saratoga Springs Public Library, also spends much of his time talking to and interacting with people. His tax filing doesn’t slow him down much.

“My wife and I filed jointly April 8,” he said. “I do it on my own. It goes quickly with tax software.”

Having just paid his taxes, Oakley said he felt calm about the whole process.

Joyce Locks, owner of Hat sational at 510 Broadway, has also just paid hers. She does her own books, gets her taxes together quickly and hands them over to her certified public accountant (CPA), who happens to be her husband, Roger Locks. He files the taxes electronically. Joyce Locks is philosophical about the whole thing.

“You work, you earn money, you collect money and you pay your taxes on time,” she said. “You have an obligation to pay them.”

She urges people to go to a CPA.

At Mountainman Outdoor Supply Company, 490 Broadway, owner John Nenjo has a tax extension until September, when his accountant will file for him. Nenjo said he’s frustrated with the tax process in the state and the country.

“It’s not the amount we’re taxed that bothers me,” he said. “It’s how the money is used. The government doesn’t use the money well.”

The government subsidizes large corporations and the oil industry, for example, he said. Renewable healthcare is neglected.

Nenjo’s wife works for the government tax department. She is from Germany, where citizens pay about 50 percent of their income in taxes and get many social programs in return. He thinks this system has some merit. But he’s angriest about the state government’s tax credits for new businesses, which he said will create multiple classes of citizens.

“I’ve been in business here for 21 years,” he said. “I take great offense to the governor’s invitation to new companies to go into business in New York state tax-free. What about the companies that have been here for years? I won’t be getting a tax break like these new firms.”

John Santora, owner of Santora Accounting and Bookkeeping Services at 7 State St. in Troy, said he has seen more people taking their taxes in stride than he expected. He thought the challenging economy would create a sense of desperation in filers.

“But we’ve had a steady progression of people coming in who seem to take taxes as just a necessary evil,” he said. “They say, ‘It is what it is.’”

He notices that people who file online sometimes make errors and come into his firm for help. These clients might be stressed, but they don’t overreact in the manner he’d expected.

His business, which he began in 1997, has gone up, he said. Besides doing taxes, accounting and bookkeeping, the firm takes on the role of chief financial officer for hire. Santora has business and individual clients.

“It’s a long three or four months,” he said. “But I think it’s been the best year for business. I’ll be able to tell for sure after tax season.”